Sons of Anarchy: The Prospect Episode 1 Review – A Rough Ride

The
Good

Fans of Sons of Anarchy will be glad to have something that tries to expand the universe.

The
Bad

Gameplay elements made me feel like a creep.

Framerate issues hamper the most exciting parts of the game.

Sons of Anarchy was FX’s premier “macho-man” show. Full of cursing, drinking, punching, shooting, womanizing, and biking, Sons of Anarchy has carved itself into the hearts of viewers who tuned in (the series just concluded last December) every week to see what kind of trouble their favorite bad boys would get themselves into. Continuing the show’s universe, Sons of Anarchy: The Prospect is a ten-episode, first-person adventure game that relies on tap-to-move controls and the occasional motorcycle riding sequence to tell the story of an up-and-coming “Prospect” for the Sons to consider letting into their ranks.

As a fan of the show, I downloaded Sons of Anarchy: The Prospect hoping for a game that would let me bike with SAMCRO’s best (or worst, depending on your point of view). The experience the game delivered couldn’t have been any further from my initial hopes.

Sons of Anarchy: The Prospect made me feel like a creep.

While the first-person perspective may not be as graphic as what players can experience in Grand Theft Auto 5, having my perspective locked onto a female character’s butt as she walks by (to insinuate that the protagonist is checking her out), is unnecessary. Let alone when a second female shows up and my character eyes her up and down. Or a short time later when I was forced into seductively giving female #2 a back rub by poking my finger against my iPad’s screen.

It’s just…creepy.

That’s not to say there weren’t proper elements of franchise in Sons of Anarchy: The Prospect. A few segments actually involved motorcycle riding (though the frame rate tanked considerably throughout both biking experiences), and fans of the show will appreciate the appearance of Tig.

But other than that, Episode One is largely uneventful. The prologue hits the ground running by presenting players with a big decision to make, and then the game just falls flat on its face for the sake of building up a predictable back story.

I understand that the first (of 10) episodes is mainly going to be about establishing characters, but I found myself bored by the majority of the game. Beyond the prologue, you spend most of the rest of the game in your dad’s small house, taking care of everything short of doing the laundry.

Combine the drudgery of literally looking around your room for spare change or bringing your dad’s parrot outside to him with the game’s stiff animations and over-use of the bloom effect, and it just feels like The Prospect is trying to mimic the successful formula of a Telltale game but completely missing the mark.

Carrying the Sons of Anarchy brand built my expectations up pretty high. I expected some hard-hitting action and some memorable characters. The Prospect delivers very little of both. Here’s to hoping Episode Two hits the throttle harder.